Renowned dress designer visits West Lafayette shop

Madeline Gardner, right, compliments how Denae Williams, 15, looks in one of Gardner’s prom dresses. Gardner designs dresses for New York-based Mori Lee, which is a partner of Universe Bridal and Prom in West Lafayette. Gardner and her team stopped at the U.S. 36 store, one of their biggest customers, on Friday.(Photo: Eric Lagatta/Tribune)Buy Photo

WEST LAFAYETTE – As prom season draws closer, a prominent dress designer stopped in Coshocton County to see girls bring her creations to life.

This weekend, Universe Bridal and Prom will usher in hundreds upon hundreds of high school students from across Ohio looking for that special dress, and there’s a good chance it was designed by Madeline Gardner.

“We get to see the girls in our dresses, and it brings them to life,” said Gardner, who designs dresses for New York-based Mori Lee. “We love to visit and see what’s happening in the stores.”

Gardner spent the day Friday at the West Lafayette dress store, part of Unusual Junction on U.S. 36. She has been a partner with Universe Bridal and Prom for 20 years, and she said it has grown to be her biggest client in Ohio.

“This is one of our biggest customers in the country,” she said.

More than half the dresses in Universe are designed by Gardner, said Teri Misener, who owns Unusual Junction. The store — one of, if not the, largest dress stores in the state — sells thousands of dresses a year to customers across Ohio.

For prom, 300 schools are registered at Universe, Misener said.

But Misener is quick to acknowledge that the success of her business is in part due to her partnership with Gardner, who she said is one of the best designers in the country.

“It’s an honor,” she said. “It’s been a great collaboration. We’re very lucky to have such a great company to work with.”

A graduate of the Fashion Institute in Technology, Gardner has designed dresses for Mori Lee since 1985. Though the company is primarily known for bridal gowns, it also offers dresses for prom and other social occasions.

When she travels to the stores she does business with, it allows her to interact with the women wearing her dresses and gives her ideas of what to design in her upcoming collections based on what’s popular.

“Prom is becoming sophisticated,” she said. “Girls are becoming glamorous; they want to feel this is their red-carpet moment.”

As girls tried on dresses and posed in front of mirrors, Gardner interacted with them and posed for an occasional picture. Denae Williams, 15, an aspiring designer herself, was more than happy to let Gardner know what she thought of her creations.

“I’m just so happy to be surrounded by your dresses,” Williams told her. And of the dress she picked out for her own prom: “I love pink, I love the flowers. It looks beautiful.”